Law School Timeline

1857: First University building opens on east bank of Mississippi river

1858: Minnesota admitted into the Union

1861: University closes due to Civil War

1869: University permanently reopens under first president, William W. Folwell

1870: Regents accept President Folwell's "Minnesota Plan" for University to be educational and cultural center offering graduate training

1882: Students demonstrate over demerits, faculty member inadvertently shoots student in the leg; President Folwell resigns; Minnesota Plan repealed

1888: University establishes professional schools; Law School opens in basement of main University building; William S. Pattee appointed first dean and faculty member; 32 enroll in day school and 35 in night school

1967: Minnesota Supreme Court permits senior students, under supervision, to appear in court in civil and criminal matters; "Decades Ahead" report estimates need for $14 million to remodel or replace law building by 1980

2001: Addition to Law School building completed; Walter F. Mondale Hall dedicated; Kommerstad Center for Business Law established; Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center established

2002: Alex M. Johnson Jr. becomes Law School dean; average annual enrollment at Law School's 18 clinics exceeds 300; students' Theatre of the Relatively Talentless founded; annual 5K Race for Justice formed to raise funds for Loan Repayment Assistance Program

2004: Law Library acquires millionth volume, the papers of Clarence Darrow; laptop program for first-year students begins

2005: Institute on Crime and Public Policy established

2006: Fred Morrison and Guy-Uriel Charles become interim Law School deans; student summer study in China program opens; Institute for Law and Economics, Institute for Law and Politics, and Institute for Law and Rationality established

2007: Program in Law and History established

2008: David Wippman becomes tenth Law School dean

2009: Law School becomes new editorial home of ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law

2011: Law School launches $70 million fundraising campaign; Corporate Institute established; Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice established